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2017 Election Advertising Complaints

The lead up to a general election is usually a busy time for the ASA, and 2017 proved no exception.

The ASA deals with complaints about all election advertising in non-broadcast media and third-party election advertising in broadcast media. There are detailed rules in both the Electoral Act 1993 and the Broadcasting Act 1989 on what political parties, candidates and third parties can and cannot do when campaigning, and the ASA Codes of Practice also apply. The ASA Code of Ethics has a rule for advocacy advertising and this is supported by a guidance note.  The advocacy rule supports a liberal interpretation of the codes to recognise the value of freedom of expression, as long as the identity of the advertiser is clear.

This year the ASA dealt with 11 election advertisement complaints under its fast-track process.  This process requires a response from the advertiser and any other relevant party within 24 hours of notification of the complaint.  The Complaints Board meets shortly after that to consider the complaint and the decision is sent to parties and published.  The process takes about three to four days from start to finish.

Complaints dealt with by the Complaints Board included a National Party video on Twitter that the Complainant believed was misleading because it used the Labour Party logo and made incorrect claims. The majority of the Complaints Board said the brief use of the colour red and Labour Party logo in the advertisement did not reach the threshold to be misleading.

A complaint was made about an Electoral Commission poster that mimicked a ballot paper and showed two ‘voting’ options – ‘Red Lip’ and ‘Nude Lip’ followed by the words ‘You vote every day, so vote this election’. The Complainant claimed the advertisement portrayed a patronising, sexist and offensive gender stereotype by trying to compare the decision-making of which lipstick colour to wear, with which political party to vote for. The Complaints Board said the advertisement employed light-hearted humour to illustrate the ease of the voting process and did not reach the threshold to cause serious or widespread offence to most people.

The Complaints Board also dealt with complaints about National Party advertisements focusing on Labour’s tax policy. Multiple complainants said the advertisements contained misleading representations of tax policies. The majority of the Complaints Board said the advertisements did not meet the threshold to mislead the public, taking into account the advocacy rule.

Eight of the eleven complaints made about election advertising were about digital advertisements, in particular advertisements appearing on Facebook and YouTube.  There was also one complaint about a poster, and complaints about two flyers.  Seven of the eleven election advertising complaints were ruled No Grounds to Proceed.  This means the Chair of the Complaints Board ruled that there was no apparent breach of the Advertising Codes. Five complaints were considered by the Complaints Board; four were Not Upheld and one was Settled.

The complete list of election complaints is as follows: